UN says a record number of aid workers were killed in 2023 and this year may be even higher
More than 280 aid workers have been killed in the war in Gaza, now in its 11th month, mainly in airstrikes. The majority of them are Palestinians who worked for the UN agency helping Palestinian refugees known as UNRWA, according to OCHA. It said that “extreme levels of violence in Sudan and South Sudan ” also have contributed to the death toll both this year and last.
Haitian inmates stage third jailbreak as local police protest poor treatment, UN support lags
Inmates broke out of a prison in the Haitian city of St Marc in the third jailbreak in recent months, the Miami Herald reported on Friday, citing a notice saying the police were mobilised to search for the escaped prisoners. The police notice asked the public to report suspicious people,...
Irony of DR Congo turning to abusive Wazalendo militias to help national army to fight M23 rebels
Increasing Rwandan support has allowed the M23 to massively expand its footprint this year, overshadowing other insurgencies in the east and raising the risk of a major regional conflagration between Rwanda and DRC and its allies.
Some 130 people are killed every day in Gaza since conflict broke out in October last year – UN
The severe shortage of clean water throughout Gaza since the war began has compounded families’ efforts to stave off disease and malnutrition, highlighting the importance of the reopened facility in the southern city and beyond to tens of thousands of people.
South Sudan’s security bill evolves into law without presidential assent, allows warrantless arrests
Yasmin Sooka, chair of the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, said on Thursday that the new law will give security agencies powers to conduct “more arbitrary detentions and enforced disappearances.”
Taliban took my life: No respite for scientists and researchers during three years of Taliban rule in Afghanistan
More than 15 million people in Afghanistan needed emergency food or cash assistance in 2023, according to the World Food Programme. Women’s rights have deteriorated and girls are banned from education once they reach 12, albeit with some recent exceptions made for medicine. Female university staff are restricted from teaching.
Russian military on the backfoot as it is pummelled by Ukrainian forces in Kursk region
Ukraine pummelled two Russian regions with drones on Tuesday as its ground forces tried to smash through defensive lines in a bid to carve out even more territory in its biggest attack on Russian territory since the war began. Ukrainian soldiers crossed the Russian border, about 530 km (330 miles)...
Israeli whistleblowers expose the horror Palestinian prisoners live in at Sde Teiman military base
Since October 7, the number of imprisoned Palestinians has nearly doubled, from 5,192 before the war to 9,623 as of early July, exacerbating a preexisting issue of overcrowding, according to human rights group HaMoked, which tracks Israel’s prison population and was among the groups who petitioned to close Sde Teiman.
UN health agency convenes experts to assess if mpox outbreak in Africa is a global emergency
Officials at the Africa CDC said nearly 70 per cent of cases in Congo are in children younger than 15, who also accounted for 85 per cent of deaths. Mpox was reported last week in Burundi and Rwanda for the first time while other countries including Kenya and the Central African Republic also identified cases.
WHO chief Ghebreyesus convenes emergency committee to assess threats posed by mpox outbreak
An emergency committee is made up of international experts who provide technical advice and recommendations to the WHO chief about whether a disease outbreak is a “public health emergency of international concern” – the agency’s highest level of alert. The final decision is made by the director general.
